Maharashtra government accepts all demands of protesting tribal students

Tribal students, who had been on a hunger strike for the last 17 days at Manjari Hostel, on Saturday secured a major victory as the state government accepted all their demands. The students thanked Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar for supporting their demands.

“The government has accepted all demands presented by student representatives during a meeting with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis today,” said Tribal Development Minister Ashok Uike in Mumbai on Saturday. “The Chief Minister addressed the demands very positively and assured students that a review meeting will be held in three months to address any implementation hurdles,” Uike said.

The student have been on a hunger strike at Manjari hostel premises in Pune, Nagpur and Nashik.

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The Minister had said he will meet the students and urge them to end their fast.

During the event Chhatron Ki Goonj event in Pune last week, a tribal girl student had raised the issue of their hunger strike on stage with Rahul Gandhi. Subsequently, Gandhi had written a letter to the Chief Minister, urging him to relax the age limit norm for admission to tribal students’ hostels. The CM responded quickly, scrapping the age-limit norm.

The students had however continued with their hunger strike, pressing on with other demands.